Copycat Popeyes Buttermilk fried chicken sandwich with spicy mayo is super crispy, spicy and tastes 1000x BETTER homemade!
If you’ve been craving fried chicken sandwiches we’ve got you covered with this delicious crispy Fried chicken Sandwich. It’s super crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside and loaded with spices. It’s as close as you will get to the famous Popeyes chicken sandwich which is currently sold out everywhere but in my opinion, it’s so much BETTER and surprisingly easy to make at home!
The sandwich comes together in under 30 minutes and can be prepared overnight. The chicken is first marinated in buttermilk (DIY buttermilk below) and spices then battered in a mixture of flour, corn starch, and MORE spices. The spices give the sandwich so much flavor but more importantly, they give it a crispy crust that is out of this world.
To make Popeyes chicken sandwich at home you will need:
- chicken breasts
- buttermilk
- flour
- corn starch
- spices
- brioche buns
To get the perfect size fillet: pound each chicken breast down to about 1/2 inch thickness then cut in half crosswise so you end up with a chicken cutlet about the same size as your buns.
To make 5-minute Buttermilk: Using buttermilk gives the chicken the authentic southern taste and helps the crust develop all those small crinkles that make it extra crispy. If you don’t have buttermilk at home, rest assured making your own buttermilk at home is super easy and done in 5 minutes. Stir 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar in a bowl and let stand for 5 minutes until the milk begins to curdle.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps make the crust super crispy and light as opposed to just battering the chicken with just flour. I highly recommend using it for the best results but If you don’t have cornstarch at home, replace it with more flour and add 1 tablespoon of baking powder.
The Bun: Using brioche buns takes this sandwich to the next level and will replicate the flavor and texture of Popeyes chicken sandwich.
To make spicy mayo sauce:
Combine 1/2 cup of mayo with 1 teaspoon hot sauce, teaspoon paprika or taco seasoning, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and whisk. The sauce is delicious in the chicken sandwich and is used to make the spicy version of Popeyes chicken sandwich.
How to Make in Chicken Sandwich the Air Fryer
To make this delicious Popeyes chicken in the air fryer, simply follow the recipe above.
Before frying, spray or brush the chicken with cooking oil and place directly into the air fryer.
Air Fry at 375F for 20 minutes, flipping halfway or until crispy and cooked through.
DIY Popeyes Buttermilk Fried Chicken Sandwich
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon EACH paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, salt
For Breading
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup corn starch
- 1 tablespoon EACH paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper (for spicy)
- 1 teaspoon EACH salt & pepper
Spicy mayo
- ½ cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon paprika, or cajun or taco seasoning
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
TO ASSEMBLE
- 4 medium-sized brioche buns
- Mayonnaise
- Sliced pickles
- 3-4 cups canola oil, for frying
Instructions
To Marinate Chicken
- Pound chicken breasts in between two pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Cut each chicken breast in half crosswise to make 2 small pieces of chicken about the same size as the bun (see video below).
- In a large bowl, buttermilk, paprika, garlic powder, salt & black pepper. Add the chicken to the mix and place in the fridge to marinate up to 24 hours or use right away.
To Cook Chicken
- Heat oil in a large heavy-duty skillet or pot on medium temperature or until the temperature reaches 350F.
- In a medium shallow bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, and spices. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of the buttermilk batter into the flour mixture and mix it through with a fork.Working with 1 piece at a time, dredge chicken the flour mixture and press flour on the top chicken to form a thick crust. Transfer chicken to hot oil and fry for 3-5 minutes per side or until the outside is crispy and golden and the internal temperature reaches 165F.
To Assemble
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan and toast buns face down until golden and crisp. Whisk all the ingredients for the mayo in a small bowl and spread a generous layer of mayo on each bun. Top with pickles and chicken. Enjoy hot!
Video
Equipment
sounds like you should learn how to fry homie
We tried making this last night and the results were just ok. Heating the oil to 350 degrees was way too hot. The crust burned before the chicken cooked (user error, oops). I pounded the chicken but I think next time I will have to thin out the chicken by cutting them. Once, we got the temp of the oil right then it was better but my family is not interested in trying this again, and we all agreed that it doesnt taste like Popeyes at all. Sorry.
Made these a few times. Very good recipe and it is very easy.
Made this for lunch today in the air fryer. I made the marinade after I ate breakfast and enjoyed them for lunch. Mmmmm soo good. Now I’m wondering can I prep these ahead of time? For example can I put the marinade including the buttermilk and chicken together in the freezer and then take it out to thaw the day I want to use it?
You can go ahead and bread the chicken then place it in the freezer and to use it, remove straight into oil or air fryer.
Did you put tub foil in your air fryer or just stick the chicken right in?
did this last night, came out perfect and amazing.
Can this be made in the air fryer?
Yes it can! Air fry 20 minutes or until cooked through.
I made this tonight for my family. I doubled the ingredients and OMG it tasted delicious. The whole family enjoyed them. Will be keeping this recepie for sure. Thank you.
I made this tonight, made spicy chicken fingers. I let it marinate for only about 1 hour and OMG! Fantastic! Juicy tender chicken and perfect amount of heat! Highly recommend!
How much oil do you need in the pot?
about 2 inches
Lol
This is so good my family loved it.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I did a mix of chicken thighs and breasts and added some pickle juice to the marinade. I let it sit for about 4 hours. After I dredged the chicken in the flour mixture I let it sit for 30 minutes before frying. The chicken was juicy and had great flavor. I like my food extremely spicy so I would probably add more cayenne when making again. I pickled some red onions and threw those on top of my sandwich. Definitely will be making again!!
I definitely agree this makes the chicken crispy but I am decreasing the paprika in four and I skipoed in the buttermilk brine. I did pound to flatten. My first time trying my ch>cken was too dark. I am going to slow fry at 350° and then put in oven at 200° for about 20 minutes on a rack and cookie sheet to finish cooking.
Better than Popeyes! I swear. Crispy chicken sandwiches are my favorite comfort food and I was so close to ordering from Popeyes when I remembered I had some chicken in the fridge brining for dinner. All the ingredients are usually must haves in the kitchen so you’d have all of them, so it’s incredibly easy to make! I just had to make a buttermilk sub but that was it. And instead of breast, I used thighs and they were excellent! Would eat this everyday if I could! I cooked it like 10 min after soaking the chicken in the marinade and they were great, but probably would be even better if they were soaked overnight.
Can I make this Keto Friendly
Replace the flour with almond flour and use lettuce as the buns.
Are there ways to make this Keto friendly?
This was delicious ! We used less paprika and added ranch powder for a little less kick but wow! Amazing breading ! That southern fried chicken crisp and the chicken was so juicy! I will recommend a hearty chicken breast, one of ours was a little too flat and didn’t have as much juiciness. This recipe definitely went in the recipe book!
The crispness was great, not so much the flavor. So next time I’ll probably play around with the spices. Oh and the tip on how to make buttermilk at home was great!!! Way too many advertisements, which made it difficult to maneuver through the recipe.
Excellent recipe! I cook random things I find on the internet all the time, and many of them are disappointing. Not the case with this! This recipe has clear instructions & delivers on its promise of a fast-food style chicken sandwich. I read several other recipes for this type of sandwich, and I’m so glad I chose yours. It came out perfect. Thank you!
So glad the recipe worked out for you, Katie 🙂
Has anyone tried using an Air fryer with this recipe?
I made the recipe according to directions, then sprayed each piece with olive oil on both sides. (I did the top first then placed the piece oil side down in the basket then sprayed that side.) I made sure none of the pieces were touching before cooking at 390F for about 12 minutes flipping halfway through.
I placed the cooked chicken on a rack. I didn’t get any complaints about them.
can you bake the chicken on a rack/ cookie sheet?
Yes, you can bake it in the oven!
I’d love to make this but HATE frying and don’t have an air fryer. How would you bake this?
NOTE:RATING IS BASED ON MY HOPES FOR THIS RECIPE
For air fryer, spray with oil and cook for 15 minutes at 400F flipping once or twice until cooked through.
Best chicken sandwich recipe that I have tried anywhere so far!
This is a great recipe, tasted better than the restaurant version.
My very picky family loves these! I marinade them in pickle juice the night before for a extra flavor.
Question – do you think these will work in an air fryer?
I wondered this myself. If u spray it with olive or vegetable oil I bet it would.
Yes. See above.
Yes, they are delicious in the air fryer!
really like the nutrtion on this since being diabetic i love the sandwich but like the info
If you hit refresh the add goes away
I did make some changes for allergies, kid is anaphylactic to milk and eggs and a bunch of other things. For the buttermilk soak (triple recipe) I did 2 cups of silk coconut yogurt, then for the third cup I did 3 tablespoons of white vinegar then topped to a cup with water. It worked perfectly.
I used a deep fryer, 356 degrees for 6 minutes was perfect. I’ll play around with the spices next time for my own taste, but I will follow the ratios for cornstarch and flour and amount of spice as it was very flavourful and the crispness was outstanding.
Yum yum yum. We did regular wonderbread buns but toasted in some margarine in the pan (again, milk and egg allergy) and it elevated the burger experience. Made the mayo with Helmanns vegan, turned out great. We only had smoked paprika, and I would have preferred regular. Too much smoky flavour.
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It was delicious all my roommates loved it… the ads were ridiculous. It was difficult to see the instructions.
Too funny PO’d! Your potty mouth doesn’t deserve the delicious chicken sandwich. Great recipe! Been making these for a while now and always rave reviews and requests to make again. Making them today actually! Can’t wait to bite into that crunchy chicken with spicy Mayo and pickles on a toasted brioche bun. I’ll eat two, one for me and one for you. Cheers!
This sandwich is amazing! I was the hero at dinner. I did let the chicken sit for 20 minutes after breading. The breading did not come off at all. I followed the recipe exactly. Absolutely delish!
This tasted as close and it could without ordering directly! Soooo good and had everyone raving!!! Fantastic but made regular, not spicy! Will make again
I’m a fresh cook and have never fried anything, but your post was so helpful!
These turned out so crispy and not oily. Thanks for the fantastic recipe
Awesome, thanks!
Made this tonight and followed it to a tee. Let the chicken sit (parchment paper) for about an hour after I breaded them. They turned out perfect, didn’t loose a flake of batter while frying. No complaints on flavor or spice level, big hit with the wife also. For anyone complaining about the breading, make sure to put 3 tbsp of the marinade into the flour mix and stir with a fork, also press that flour mix into the chicken good, don’t be shy! Thank you for the awesome recipe!
I made this for dinner tonight and looks nothing like the picture and my breading fell right off like it always does when I make fried chicken. Other then that the chicken itself was good.
Hi Lisa,
Here’s a tip that I learned recently. After you dredge the chicken in the flour let it sit for about 20 min to allow the flour to adhere to the chicken before frying. Hope that helps
Any tips on getting the breading to stick to the chicken better? I’ve made this twice now and both times I have to be so careful to not knock the breading off. That said, my family absolutely LOVES this recipe! So delicious!
We’ve never had an issue with the breading sticking but if you’d like, go ahead and add an egg to the buttermilk batter!
Drying your chicken with a paper towel before hand has always helped me, as well as a rectangle dish with flour or cornstarch at the bottom allows even coating and space. I hope this helps!
Hello,
I used to work at Chick-fil-A. The trick to not having the breading fall off is to make sure you sift your coater(the flour). As you do more chicken the coater will become “contaminated” with chunks and bits therefore not allowing the powder to adhere properly.
Hope this helps.
Great recipe!, my family loved it. They don’t sell buttermilk in my country so I made it with milk and vinegar. I didn’t have cayenne pepper so I used sriracha and chili powder. Delicious!!!
Good thinking!! happy you were able to make it work 🙂
Can you use regular milk?
You can use milk with a tablespoon of vinegar if you don’t have buttermilk.
Easy to make except for the frying part but that is with any recipe. Good solid recipe, will do this again!
This is a decent chicken sandwich, but it is not just like Popeyes. There’s too much paprika, and not enough heat. Both the breading flavor and sauce flavors are off from the real thing. I compared right next to a real Popeyes spicy chicken sandwich.
But, I think it is a good place to start. I will make it again, but play around with the spices.
Do you know how king the mayo mixture would be good for once made?
Thanks
It should last for 2 weeks in the fridge.
WOW these sandwiches are amazing. I’ve never had the Popeyes version because fast food has so much sodium and I have a high blood pressure. I was eating one by myself and kept saying out loud, “oh my God, this is so delicious, this is so good”.
I had a bite with just the pickles and spicy mayo and was hooked. I then decided to add some spring salad mix that I had on hand and it made it even better…. if that’s Even possible.
I used Claussen Kosher Dill sandwich slices instead of dill pickles that they use at McDonald’s and probably Popeyes since I don’t like them. The garlic in the kosher dills gave it a nice crunch and garlic kick. The spicy mayo was amazing as well. I can’t wait to make these for my son who is 24 and eats fast food all of the time. I warned him about all of the additives, preservatives sodium etc. in those foods so he loves when he comes here and I make what’s better for him. I am in no way saying that the sandwiches are healthy because they are not, but they are a nice treat. Thank you for sharing.
I forgot to mention, after I breaded the breasts I let them sit on the counter for 30 minutes in order to get to room temperature and to help keep the breading intact during frying.
Thanks for the detailed feedback and I’m so happy you enjoyed the sandwiches!
I lovvvvvvved this recipe! I used smoked paprika and some cayenne pepper and it was delicious. I might try to add more heat to the recipe next time. I also had to make a second batch of breading. I’m saving this recipe it’s the best.